DEGW acted as a vital link between
the owners (Morgan Stanley Sgr) and the client (Deutsche Bank), carrying out
meticulous work on the building prior to the customisation of the
technological/distribution spaces: highly efficient teamwork that was extremely
cost and time effective, so that the new dbNW guidelines were interpreted in a
carefully structured way.

The dbNW guidelines are part of an extensive study programme carried out
with the help of DEGW on Deutsche Bank’s main hubs globally and, although there
was already a high degree of mobility amongst Deutsche Bank staff, this is a
particularly innovative approach, particularly for the banking industry. The
introduction of concepts like non-territoriality and desk sharing, the
identifying of three main workstyles (Residents, Mobiles and Super Mobiles),
smaller staff archives, a notable technological upgrade to encourage staff
mobility and flexibility (inviting them to adopt a clean desk policy), the greater
importance of co-operation spaces rather than individual spaces: all this requires
careful management of transition processes, partly with the aid of targeted
Workplace Change Management processes to help people settle into their new
workplace. Processes that DEGW, as the workplace briefing partner, coordinated
for all Deutsche Bank’s offices in Europe and North America.

While the architectural restructuring project for the new Milan offices
is the work of Park Associati in partnership with General Planning srl, DEGW
came up with a clear and immediate concept for its space planning and interior
design. Working around the layout, there is a combination of open-plan spaces,
break areas on every floor, support hubs with meeting rooms and smaller think
tanks separating the public areas from the more private work facilities without
creating barriers, and enclosed offices assigned to executive management only.
Generally speaking, all the design features conform to LEED Gold standards,
while DEGW has made sure the CMFs (colours, materials and finishes) are not
just stylistically in line with Deutsche Bank’s most important offices around
the world, they also create the same mood throughout the entire building: a
transparent building identity, whose powerful technological foundations and
attention to economics and materials combine seamlessly without any excess or
ostentation, even in the design of the most distinctive zones, such as the
Client and Reception areas.